


Level Up

by DestinedHellfire



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Other, Rating May Change, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:06:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26533339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestinedHellfire/pseuds/DestinedHellfire
Summary: A collection of (unofficial) short stories chronicling the life of Hana Song mere months before the MEKA draft.





	Level Up

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: The following is unofficial Overwatch lore not authorized or endorsed by Blizzard and should be taken as nothing more than "elseworld" storytelling.

**Busan, South Korea – Fall, 2075**

_3 Months prior to Draft_

The air was coated with excitement, the always memorable atmosphere of a gaming convention was one that Hana Song found herself addicted to; the sensation was so vivid that the Korean could feel it swell over her even from the street from within the confines of her carpool.

“Here we are miss.” The elderly driver would glance back to the rear of the car where Hana was sitting, her eyes transfixed on the pre-opening mass that was already forming outside the convention center walls.

As eager as the gaming megastar was to get inside and see the sights, this was nowhere close to her first event of this caliber. “Go around to the back please?” she would reply with a request, not expecting the old timer to understand the reasoning behind it whatsoever.

“It’ll cost extra; I have to go the long way around because the traffic.”

“That’s fine.” Hana would retort with a smile, and before long the vehicle was off once more before any of the eager convention-goers could spot her through the window. Traffic, however, would prove just as taxing with nowhere to park and the streets swarmed with pedestrians crossing and clogging up the driving lanes; thankfully, the ever-gaming Korean superstar would produce a handheld gaming device from her bag and begin playing some retro game that was popular before her time.

Minutes would pass without a single inch of progress towards the new destination, which gave Hana ample time to complete various objectives that were killing the time. Eventually, after about thirty minutes, the car would once again find itself pulling to the side of the road and that familiar elderly voice could be heard once more.

“There you go miss.” He spoke with respect, despite the inconvenience Hana’s request no doubt had caused him.

“Thank you!” she would pause her game and flash the driver a smile, tossing the handheld back into her bag.

“That’ll be an extra…” his slightly raspy voice trails off, as he fidgets with the screen on his dashboard, “… ₩25,000.”

“Ok!” Hana nods as the screen located on the back of the seat directly in front of her illuminates.

_Please place your eye in the vicinity of the retinal scanner…_

Leaning forward, the brunette would position her face in such a fashion that saw her left eye mere inches away from the screen in question.

_Scanning…_

_Scanning…_

_Scanning…_

_…scanning complete! Payment processed! Thank you for your business Miss Song!_

With all the ‘paperwork’ taken care of, Hana would casually sling her backpack over her shoulder and exit the vehicle.

“Have a good day!” the driver gave one final wave to the girl.

With a small bow and wave, the Korean teenager would watch momentarily as the elderly man drove off before turning her attention to the prize that awaited behind her; a sight all too familiar and yet still the same level of excitement as if she had been experiencing it for the very first time.

**BLIZZARD WORLDWIDE INVITATION**

_Busan - 2075_

The bold text was sprawled across on a banner that hung above the rear entrance to the convention center, which fortunately for Hana had little activity present in terms of convention-goers loitering about waiting for the convention to officially open. Eager to get the show on the road, the brunette would begin making her way towards the building and a small entrance labelled simply as “VIP / Press”

“Can I see your badge, miss?” a Korean female security guard who was probably in her mid-30’s would stop Hana, as was standard for events of this magnitude. Reaching into her backpack, the gamer would produce a holographic badge that had the letters “VIP” sprawled across the bottom. After a moment of scan inspection, the guard in question would show a friendly smile and wave Hana through.

Draping the pink lanyard around her neck, Hana would happily take the cue and strut casually through the double doors that lead into the “behind the scenes” areas of the convention.

“Hana!” a familiar female voice would call out from the gamer’s left, and when she turned to face its source she was greeted by none other than long time teammate and friend Yuna “D.Mon” Lee.

“Yuna!” the brunette would reply with a hint of childish glee as the two females embraced one another.

“Fashionably late, as usual.” The other would tease.

“Well you know, VOD study!”

“Right, totally didn’t have to do with you streaming _16-Bit Hero_ last night.”

“That was after! I swear!” a white lie, but one that caused both friends to burst into a small fit of laughter; it was funny that despite the two women chatting nearly every day as they scrimmaged in _Mecha Guardian V_ , the way they spoke and joke with one another would fool any non-suspecting passerby that they were two friends who hadn’t seen one another for ages. Hana chalked it up to the two of them not being able to be social so much outside of gaming and conventions due to the nature of their work, but if you were to ask her, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“So, ready for today? Heard that King’s team has been studying VOD of us like their coach made a religion out of it or something.”

“Ready? You know me Yuna! There ain’t nothing that the two of us can’t dominate! King’s good, but he can’t hold a candle to the two of us!” Hana’s face would grow smug for a moment, true to her character she took everything as a life or death competition and had nothing short of absolute confidence in her team.

“I’m sure King will be absolutely thrilled to hear you say that.” Yuna teased once more, as the two gaming superstars began walking deeper into the convention center towards the Expo Floor; casual chat would happen between the two, mostly surrounding: video games, streaming, girls, and of course the convention itself. Eventually, the two would find themselves snaking beneath a curtain and emerging out onto the Expo Floor where sponsors hung from the rafters and booths littered the massive convention center.

“Perks of being #1 and #2, right?” Yuna would express a small amount of smugness in that moment, due to the both of them being competitors in the annual Invitational Tournament which saw bright rookies and grizzled veterans alike come together to fight for an opportunity to walk away with a sweet championship title and an even sweeter cash prize.

“Always.” The two ladies would bump fists, before starting their surveyal of the various booths that surrounded them: most belonged to merchandise sellers, both official and unofficial, others belonged to various gaming brands such as _Logitech, APM.Kr, etc._ , the rest belonged to cosplayers; there was never anything that stood out when it came to expo floor of the Invitational, it was what they were walking towards that was the real “money shot”.

Passing by various gaming and merchandise booths, cosplayers of varying backgrounds and levels of attractiveness, and of course center employees; it would not take long before they were in sight of the arena entrance that sat prominently at one edge of the hall:

**GUARDIAN ARENA**

Like children on their birthday, they would eagerly dash across the threshold and be wowed by the spectacle before them; thousands of seats circled around the grand stage in the center, lights of various hues shown in all different directions to illuminate the arena as a whole, giant LED screens hung down from the center of the rafters to provide those with less than ideal sightlines of the stage with picture perfect coverage of the game. It was relatively empty, spare for a few workers who were no doubt running maintenance checks, which meant there was no real opposition to prevent the two gamers from approaching the stage in question.

Hana was just as much in love with the technical side of the tournaments as she was with partaking in them as a gamer herself, a fascination that had bled over and onto Yuna during their many years of gaming and competing together. The two sets of eyes would begin glancing over the various details ranging from the complex yet neatly organized wiring of the equipment, all the way to the PC set-ups themselves; it all reminded her of a more grandiose variation of the streaming set-up she had at apartment.

“Blizzard went more overboard than usual this year.” Yuna commented, her fingers gleefully stroking the frame to one of the monitors they would be in front of later in the day.

“It is the 10th annual, so I’m not surprised.” The shorter of the two females would respond, her gaze focused outward towards the ocean of empty seats; her mind began to vividly imagine thousands chanting her name, roars of excitement that would boom through the entire convention center and maybe even all of Busan itself.

“Has it been 10 already? It gets hard to keep up with tournaments these days.” Though the pair had only personally partaken in the last four Invitationals, which saw them compete in arenas as close as Busan and as far as Los Angeles, their memories could not help but begin to blend memories of events together.

“Already picturing me holding the championship high? Consider me flattered.” The friendly exchange was brought to a halt by an unfortunately all too familiar male voice.

“Funny, could have sworn you said those exact words last year too Kyung…” Yuna would retort as the two women faced the rival, “…remind me how that went again Hana?” 

Taking a moment for effect, the brunette tapped her index finger playfully on her bottom lip before answering, “I believe it was with _us_ taking turns kissing the championship, isn’t that right?”

“Different year, different meta, better team.” The male would retort with obvious annoyance in his tone, hands exited the comfort of his jacket pockets to adjust the frames of his glasses.

“I think he said that as well last year too, right Yuna?” both women would laugh amongst themselves; it was no secret that Kyung-soo Hann was a phenomenal player who had safely maintained the #3 spot in the entire world when it came to _Mecha Guardian V_ for the past 2 years since turning pro, but with Yuna and Hana proudly playing hot-potato with ranks #1 and #2, yet he just could never get over that hump he so desperately desired.

“Well I guess we’ll just have to see now, won’t we?” Kyung issued his challenge, hands shoving themselves back into the confines of his jacket before turning to exit the stage they had all been standing upon.

As the man walked his way out of the arena, both Yuna and Hana would exchange a look with one another until he was far enough out of earshot, “You know Hana, if he wasn’t so damn arrogant? He’d actually be pretty cute.” A playful jab with her shoulder.

“Mmmmm…maybe! Hard to see past the _rival_ angle for me, you know?” the brunette would shrug her shoulders, she had never really bought into the rumors that spread around the e-sports world that said Kyung’s desire for a rivalry spawned out of him having romantic interest in herself; in Hana’s mind, their rivalry was an exchange of pure skill and nothing more.

“Look at me, sounding like those ‘e-Journalists’ on Holo-Tube.” The taller would giggle as if to break the momentary aura of awkwardness; standing there for a brief window of silence, they were interrupted by the building’s intercom system:

**“Welcome everyone to the 10 th annual Blizzard Worldwide Invitational! If you’re ready for a weekend of memories here in the beautiful city of Busan, please begin to make your way through security check in single-file fashion! Thank you!”**

In sync, both Hana and Yuna would dart their eyes down towards their respective phone screens, “11 AM already!” the two would shout in unison, realizing they were going to be late to team practice; turning the adrenaline up to maximum, the gamers would sprint off stage and out of the arena back onto the expo-floor that was already rapidly filling up with eager attendees.

“Damn.” Hana would begin surveying their joint surroundings, looking for the quickest possible route out of the hall that wouldn’t have them stopped by adoring fans.

“Oh crap! It’s D.Va… AND D.Mon!?” it was already too late for that plan, an adorable looking queer couple had spotted them and of course caused a swarm to spawn in their direct path.

Having to improvise, the brunette would rapidly dig through her bag and produce a stack of autographed prints of her from a magazine ad she did just last month; “This’ll buy us some time.” Hana would assure her friend, tossing them haphazardly into the expanding crowd of fans and cueing their withdrawal from the situation.

“Sorry guys! We got a meet and greet later though!” Yuna would chime in as the two of them began snaking their way through the crowd towards the exit.

Eventually with enough tenacity and feign obliviousness to the occasional creep or two, both gamers would find themselves outside the convention center once more; slouched over, both would struggle to regain their breath before meeting eyes once more.

“Nice thinking.” The taller complimented.

“Thanks.”

“Got anymore of those?” Yuna would pose, gesturing towards the mass of people waiting to cross the street nearby.

“That… was my supply for the entire weekend… so…” It was at this stage that the previously mentioned group had spotted them and begun jaywalking towards where they were standing.

“Scenic route?”

“Scenic route.”

Without hesitation, the two women would begin bolting in the opposite direction and leaving the no-doubt disappointed fans behind them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please forward to more entries to this in the future! Follow me on Twitter (@destindhellfire) for writing updates including both fan fiction and original works! You can also find details there about how to acquire week early access to fan fictions! 
> 
> Please kudos, comment and share with your friends; thank you so much once again for reading!
> 
> Sincerely,  
> Michael


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